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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JAMES SHQBE, of Principio, in the county ot` Cecil, in the .State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corn and Cane I-Iurvesters, and the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. making a part of this specification, in which-d Figure 1 represents a section througha side elevation of the' machine with the shafts broken cti' and the forward end parting iron. i i

Figure 2 shows a plan or top view of the machine with the gathering, holdingLand liberating mechanism.

Figure 3 is au enlarged view of the cutting mechanism, the supporting guilde table, and the endless chain gathering rake. I

The object of my invention is to supply the publie with a good practical working automatic corn and cane cutter-and gatherer, that will be durable, and easily operated by one horse, cutting two rows at the lsame time, thereby saving much time and hard labor in securing the crop.

My invention consists in the arrangement and combination of tho receiving platform with the standards and cross-arms for holding the gavels, and also the spring-lover, forked catches, and foot apparatus for liberating them at the will ofthe driver.

To enable others skilled` in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe it more fully, referring to the drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

In constructing my improved corn and cane harvester, I use' a square iron bar, of a' suicient size to support the weight of the machine,and the stalks or corn that can accumulate on the platform, for an axle, A A, the ends being fitted for the wheels B B'to run on in the ordinary manner. To the axle-bar A A I iit and bolt the main pieces of the frame C C,'they being made of bars of dat iron, the forward ends being bent or curved towards the centre, on which to attach the shafts c c c e, as seen in tig. 2i. Between the bent ends b b and the axle A A is secured a connecting-bar, D, on whichA the central portion of the elevated frame E E is supported. On both sides of the main frame C C are secured to it, and the axle A A, bent barsof iron, F F, the forward ends forming guides j f to bring the swayed corner cane up to vthel revolving cutters I AI, which have their bearings lin the frame C C and guide-bars F F;' or, if desirable to have the bearin'gsnear the pinion e c, which revolves the cutters I I, a pair of stift' arms, H H, are attached to the axle vnear to the wheels B B, onvthe inside of which are spur gear-wheels g g, to operate the cutting and gathering mechanism. Above the lower guide-bars F F are similar iron guide-bars h L, which are supported at a suitable height on the standards d cl, the elevated part of' the frame EE and the guides h h being placed in such relative position with each other as to leave a space or channel for the corn to be conveyed back on to the platforms G after it is cut, in a vertical position, the lower ends of the stalks resting and sliding along on the tables J'l J, they being in the plane with the top of the revolving cutters I I. On the inner ends of the cutter shafts are placed bevel gear-wheels it', into which are geared similarwheelsjj, on the bottom of the vertical shafts c c, to give motion to the gathering and conveying mechanism, which consists of the endless chain or wire-work raking belts m m, placed on the puls leys an near the bottom of the vertical shafts 7c c and the tall shafts b b, there being four of the tall shafts for each of the gathering and moving apparatus, on .the top of which are band-wheels o Ao and pp, made so that they can be slid up or down on the shafts b b, and secured in any desired position to accommodate the lengthof stalks or cane. On the top pulleys op are also placed endless chain-raking belts g g, with' series 0f teeth rrrr to take hold and convey the eut corn back and lodge it against the arms c c, which are placed so as to revolve on the top of the-back standards L L. The arms K K are held from turning by a forked hook-lever- M, which is hinged to a braced standard, N, supported. on the centre of the axle A in the middle ofthe machine, the lever M being connected by a rod, Q, with a foot-lever, R, which extends forward under the drivers seat S. When a suicient quantity of corn or cane has accumulated on the platform Gr, and lodged against the arms K, to

v form a gavel or bundle, the driver, in his seat, springs the foot-lever R, which trips the hooked-lever M, and

allows the arms to turn one-fourth and drops the gavel. The revolving cutters I I, and the gathering apparatus are each one operated independent ot' the other by the spur gear-wheels y g on the wheels B B, the pinions c e on the cutter-shafts being made to slide. in and out of gear by having connecting-rods t t-attached to a handlever, T, within reach of the driver, so that he can throw the Working partsin and out of gear at pleasure.` The gathering apparatus may be Worked by the bolts u u, or, if desirable, positive motions may be given to all of the upright shafts by gear lconnections. For cutting cane, which is desirable to have cut as low down as possibile, the wheels B B are removed and a much smaller pair are `substituted for them; this gives amore rapid motion tothe cutters, which is an advantage in hard substances, the motion of4 the cutters being forward directly against the stalks, revolving upwardl so that the butt is'placed by it on to the guide table as soon as it is severed from the stump, leaving'no obstruction to the progress of the machine in the rear of the cutters. If the corn` or cane be fallen or swayed about so as to lay across the space between the rows so as tov obstruct'the passage for the horsein working the harvester, I 'have a'spade-shaped4 bow or parting iron V V, with/sockets w w to slip on to the ends of the shafts before the horsesbreast. The forward point a: being bent down so as to take under the inclined stalks, will raise them up and conduct themv properly to the cutting apparatus; the guide irons-ff being also bent down to lift up the stalks that are inclined outward and conduct theml to the cutters, thus preventing the dividing-wheels from running on to the corn, thus making a-clfear track for theml A goed, simple, cheap, and practical working corn-harvesting machine has hitherto been regarded as the-.most diicult to produce of all the modern inventions for agricultural purposes. In the first place, cern-stallrs and sugar-cane are hard substances to cutl by the ordinarily constructed cutters foi-.agricultural implements; they being stiff and heavy are liable to lean over or be swayed in all directions, making it extremely diilieult to gather all of the stalks up and bring Athem 'properly to the action of thecutters, and after they have been severed some of them are liable to fall by their weight in front of ther cutters so as to obstruct the cutting of the' standing corn and clog up the machine.

I do not claim broadly the revolving cutters, as shown, for cuutting cane or stalks; nor do I claim endless beltsl with teeth for gathering and conducting the cut corn into gavels; but what I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the revolving cutters I I, reeeiving-guidesf L, gathering-belts m q, standards lc ZJ, and cross-arms K K, for holding the gavels, the forked hook-catch M and footlever R for liberating, as

herein specified. i

subscribed to on this 26th day of June, 1866.

- JAMES sHoBE.,

kVlitnesses:l y

EDM. F. BROWN, R. WAKEMAN. 

